Burrito king grows from frozen to fine dining

July 19, 2007

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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GETTING READY: Manager Alex Arroyo does some last minute cleaning of a "water wall" at the Las Campanas restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga. Multi-millionaire Duane Roberts is introducing this new chain of first class gourmet restaurants featuring Mexican cuisine. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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RESTAURANT: Exterior of the Las Campanas restaurant opening in Rancho Cucamonga.Multi-millionaire Duane Roberts of Laguna Beach is introducing a new chain of first class gourmet restaurants that feature Mexican cuisine. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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DINING ROOM: The main dining room at the Las Campanas restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga. Multi-millionaire Duane Roberts of Laguna Beach is introducing a new chain of first class gourmet restaurants that feature Mexican cuisine. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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UPSCALE: The bar at the Las Campanas restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga. Multi-millionaire Duane Roberts of Laguna Beach is introducing a new chain of first class gourmet restaurants that feature Mexican cuisine. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

FINAL TOUCHES: Manager Alex Arroyo does some last minute cleaning of a "water wall" at the Las Campanas restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga. Multi-millionaire Duane Roberts is introducing this new chain of first class gourmet restaurants featuring Mexican cuisine. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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EXTERIOR SIGN: Multi-millionaire Duane Roberts of Laguna Beach is introducing a new chain of first class gourmet restaurants that feature Mexican cuisine. This Las Campanas restaurant is opening in Rancho Cucamonga. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

GETTING READY: Manager Alex Arroyo does some last minute cleaning of a "water wall" at the Las Campanas restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga. Multi-millionaire Duane Roberts is introducing this new chain of first class gourmet restaurants featuring Mexican cuisine.H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Las Campanas

Owner/Founder: Duane Roberts of Laguna Beach

What: The $5 million fine dining establishment features gourmet Mexican cuisine served in an upscale setting. The restaurant is modeled after Las Campanas at the historic Mission Inn in Riverside. Roberts wants to turn the Mexican chic food concept into a chain. He's currently scouting coastal Orange County for his next eatery.

Menu: Specialties include Pescado Fresco (halibut or sea bass with choice of signature Mexican sauces) and chipotle honey-glazed rib-eye. All beef items (taco, enchiladas or quesadillas) are made with grilled filet mignon. Items range from $6.50 to $35.

While most people know Duane Roberts as the man who saved Riverside's historic Mission Inn, the Laguna Beach multi-millionaire's real claim to fame is more humble.

He invented the frozen burrito.

The son of a Riverside meat wholesaler, Roberts sold burger patties and barbecue beef to dozens of California restaurants in the 1950s. One of Butcher Boy's best customers was an up-and-coming burger joint called McDonald's.

Back then, a cultural shift in the way people dined gave birth to the fast food industry - and the always entrepreneurial Roberts wanted a piece of the action. So he concocted a beef and bean burrito that could be deep fried at carhops throughout America.

The product made Roberts a millionaire when he sold the business in 1980.

Over the years, his love for Mexican food never waned - though he now craves entrees much more chic than a chimichanga. On Monday, his Newport Beach investment firm is launching Las Campanas, a Mexican fine dining restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga with food and décor that's expected to rival any first-class steak or seafood restaurant.

"Mexican food has an overall reputation as being low on the budget and cost side," Roberts said. "So what we're trying to do is raise the bar and have a much more dramatic experience."

Roberts, 70, eventually hopes to turn Las Campanas into a string of gourmet restaurants - a niche he believes is lacking in the region. His next establishment is expected to be in coastal Orange County, where he lives with his wife, Kelly.

He talked to reporter Nancy Luna about his fortune, his passion for preservation, and his entrepreneurial endeavors.

Luna: So, freezing a burrito set you up for life. How did that come about?

Roberts: My family had a small meat company, and my father sold patties to the original McDonald's in San Bernardino. They became so successful other people copied them. As (burger joints) got more competitive, people wanted to add more items to their menu. So, we asked, "What else could we make?"

We (our company) had a Hispanic butcher, and he said, "Why don't you make a burrito?" I loved Mexican food, but I had no idea what a burrito was.

Luna: Date me, please. In what year did you not know what a burrito was in Southern California?

Roberts: 1956. I was 19.

Luna: Oh my. So, what kind of Mexican food did you know?

Roberts: Enchiladas and tacos.

Luna: What was in the first burrito?

Roberts: It was a beef and bean burrito with red chili powder. Later, I brought in green chili.

Luna: What made you freeze it?

Roberts: We had blast freezers for our barbecue beef so we could transport it all over. So, I'd take my (frozen) burritos on the road, and go into restaurants and give them my sales pitch. I put them in the fryer, and everyone thought it was fantastic.

Roberts: I tried to sell barbecue beef to Harry Snyder (founder of Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger.) He told me then, he would never change his menu. But he did give me a lead to a competitor, Mel's Drive-In (who) did buy a huge amount of our barbecue meat.

Luna: Over the years, you invested in other Mexican food manufacturing companies that made taquitos, tacos and enchiladas.

Roberts: Yes. (For a long time), we were their only Mexican food supplier. The business had grown to an $80 million a year company when we sold it in 1980.

Luna: You are a multi-millionaire with strong international investments. Why go into the risky restaurant business now?

Roberts: My wife asked me that. I love creating things, and so we decided on Mexican food with the highest quality (ingredients). We use nothing but USDA filet mignon choice. The (décor) is something you'd see in south beach Florida. We have 16-foot water walls, back lit. The bar has amber lighting. (Note: The eatery was designed by the same architect who created Blue Coral Seafood & Spirits in Newport Beach.)

Luna: Why open in Rancho Cucamonga, and not the O.C.?

Roberts: We will come into Orange County. In fact we're in negotiation on another site along the coastline. But, we decided on (the Rancho area) because there's an affluent younger age group (there.)

Luna: You're tapping into a niche that's starting to grow here in Orange County - Mexican chic. Where do you like to eat locally?

Roberts: Yes. There is a sub-market. We eat at Javier's in Laguna Beach. He's probably the most upscale Mexican operation Orange County.

Luna: What made you rescue the Mission Inn in 1992?

Roberts: The Butcher Boy company entertained there, and brought larger customers there. My mother loved it, and that was a big reason why I did it. She was deceased (at the time of the purchase.) She would have never imagined that we would own a treasure like the Mission Inn.

Luna: You sound enamored with historic architecture.

Roberts:Yes. I like beautiful old things. The Mission Inn is the fabric that binds the community together. It's a heart welling thing to own. Some (wealthy) people have sports teams, I have my Mission Inn.

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